Patients are stuck for a blood draw almost every day they are admitted to a hospital. Lab tests are one of the most common orders placed by doctors, but research indicates that nearly one-third of these tests are not needed. Hospitals nationwide are seeking ways to use price transparency - displaying the price of lab tests at the time when doctors are placing the order - to nudge doctors to consider whether the benefits are worth the cost. But, results of a new study show that simply displaying the Medicare allowable fees did not have an overall impact on how clinicians ordered these tests. The results, from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, are published today in JAMA Internal Medicine and presented at the Society of General Internal Medicine annual meeting in Washington, DC.
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